High friction panel for use in stacking products

Abstract

 The invention relates to a high friction panel (10) for use as a divider between adjacent rows of products stacked on a pallet, the panel being formed from sheet material and having on both its opposite faces (18,20) a plurality of strips (12,14,16;22,24) comprising a coating of a high friction material, the strips (12,14,16) on one face (18) being out of register with those (22,24) on its opposite face (20).

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a high-friction panel for use in stacking products and in particular for use as a divider between layers of products stacked on a pallet.

[0002] The invention provides a panel of sheet material having on both its opposite faces a plurality of areas of a high friction material, the areas on one face being disposed out of register with those on its opposite face.

[0003] An embodiment of the invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a panel of sheet material according to the invention having a number of spaced strips of a high friction material applied to one of its faces, and

Figure 2 is a plan view of the opposite face of the panel having applied thereto a pair of spaced strips of a high friction material which are out of register with the strips on the first face.

[0004] Referring to the drawings there is shown a rectangular panel 10 formed from paperboard or other suitable sheet material and which has applied thereto a coating of three strips 12, 14 and 16 of a high friction material. It is envisaged that a number of suitable materials having a high co-efficient of friction may be suitable but it has been found that a hot melt glue when solidified does have satisfactory high friction properties.

[0005] Strips 12 and 16 are applied longitudinally of the first face 18 of the panel adjacent each of its longitudinal edges and the third strip of high friction material 14 is applied intermediate strips 12 and 16.

[0006] Similarly, on the opposite face 20 of the panel 10 a pair of further space strips 22, 24 of high friction material is coated. The strips 22 and 24 are positioned so as to be out of register with the strips on the first face 18.

[0007] This arrangement is chosen that a number of similar sheets may be stacked one of the next with opposite faces in contact with one another whereby the strips of high friction coating on adjacent sheets are not superimposed. Further, a continuous web of material may be so formed and can be rolled without causing the strips of high friction material to contact one another.

[0008] It has been found that use of such panels has dividers between layers of products stacked on a pallet gives stability to the loaded pallet since it greatly reduces the tendency of products in one layer moving relative to the products in the next adjacent layer.

[0009] The invention also provides a stack of products comprising a number of layers of products such as cases or boxes stacked one on the next and on which the layers are separated one from the other by a panel of the type defined and described herein.

Claims

1. A high friction panel (10) for use as a divider between adjacent rows of products stacked on a pallet, the panel being formed from sheet material and having on both its opposite faces (18,20) a plurality of areas (12,14,16;22,24) comprising a coating of a high friction material, characterized in that said areas (12,14,16) on one face (18) of the panel are out of register with said areas (22,24) on the opposite face (20) of the panels.

2. A high friction panel according to claim 1, further characterized in that said areas are spaced strips.

3. A high friction panel according to claim 2, further characterized in that said panel is paperboard and in that said strips comprise hot-melt glue applied thereto.

4. A high friction panel according to claim 2 or claim 3, further characterized in that said one face has three spaced strips and said opposite face has a pair of spaced strips.

5. A stack of products comprising a plurality of product layers characterized in that the layers are separated one from the next by a panel according to any of the preceding claims.

Drawing